When George and Sabine Harwood arrive in Trinidad from England George instantly takes to their new life, but Sabine feels isolated, heat-fatigued, and ill at ease with the racial segregation and the imminent dawning of a new era. Her only solace is her growing fixation with Eric Williams, the charismatic leader of Trinidad's new national party, to whom she pours out all her hopes and fears for the future in letters that she never brings herself to send. As the years progress, George and Sabine's marriage endures for better or worse. When George discovers Sabine's cache of letters, he realises just how many secrets she's kept from him - and he from her - over the decades. And he is seized by an urgent, desperate need to prove his love for her, with tragic consequences...
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'Heart-rending and thought-provoking, you will never again see the Caribbean as just another holiday destination.'
-- Elle Magazine, August issue, 2009 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
-- Elle Magazine, August issue, 2009 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Monique Roffey was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and educated in the UK. Her highly acclaimed debut novel, Sun Dog, was published in 2002. Since then she has worked as a Centre Director for the Arvon Foundation and has held the post of Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Sussex and Chichester universities. She currently lives in Harlesden, north London, where she spends most of the day in her pyjamas, writing. www.moniqueroffey.co.uk
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110 of 112 people found the following review helpful
By Clementine
Format:Paperback
This is one of the best books I have read in years. It has everything you want from a novel - incredible use of language, fascinating context (Trinidad's emerging independence) and wonderful characters who stay with you long after the book is finished. Along the way it also tackles colonialism, racism, and the realities of a long marriage with intelligence, wit and poignancy. Oh, and the plot's cracking too. I can't recommend it highly enough.
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Monique Roffey: A White Woman, A Green Bicycle and the Orange Prize
27 April 2010
By G. A. Ward
Format:Paperback
It came as no surprise to me to hear Monique Roffey had been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for her novel The White Woman on the Green Bicycle. As soon as I received it for review I knew I was in for a treat and I wasn't disappointed. Roffey is surely one of the best women novelists around and this tale of Trinidad is as irresistible as her earlier work.
Her first novel, Sun Dog, tempted me to buy it after reading an excerpt. It's not easy for a debut novelist to have this effect, but there was something about her fragile anti-hero as he discovered his body was changing with the seasons, sprouting buds between fingers and toes in Spring. I just had to read more and find out about this shy young man working in a delicatessen and rebelling against the commune upbringing he'd had with his hippy mother.
The White Woman on a Green Bicycle tempts the reader just as Sun Dog did. The lush landscape of Trinidad makes us feel we're right there, or want to be there. In fact the green hills of Trinidad come so vividly to life that they actually speak to the characters and seduce them or inspire their envy.
It might be hard to imagine why one of the main characters, Sabine, doesn't want to live there and craves the London suburban home her husband promised her if she would spend a bit of time in Trinidad while he establishes himself in his job. But, from the first days, Sabine is sensitive to the feeling that Trinidad doesn't want her, doesn't want the white people still living like the colonialists of the past. She's both attracted to Trinidad and its people, and also pushed out due to her compassion and awareness. She agrees with the Trinidadians but she isn't one of them so can't rebel alongside them.
Her husband George is different. Read more ›
Her first novel, Sun Dog, tempted me to buy it after reading an excerpt. It's not easy for a debut novelist to have this effect, but there was something about her fragile anti-hero as he discovered his body was changing with the seasons, sprouting buds between fingers and toes in Spring. I just had to read more and find out about this shy young man working in a delicatessen and rebelling against the commune upbringing he'd had with his hippy mother.
The White Woman on a Green Bicycle tempts the reader just as Sun Dog did. The lush landscape of Trinidad makes us feel we're right there, or want to be there. In fact the green hills of Trinidad come so vividly to life that they actually speak to the characters and seduce them or inspire their envy.
It might be hard to imagine why one of the main characters, Sabine, doesn't want to live there and craves the London suburban home her husband promised her if she would spend a bit of time in Trinidad while he establishes himself in his job. But, from the first days, Sabine is sensitive to the feeling that Trinidad doesn't want her, doesn't want the white people still living like the colonialists of the past. She's both attracted to Trinidad and its people, and also pushed out due to her compassion and awareness. She agrees with the Trinidadians but she isn't one of them so can't rebel alongside them.
Her husband George is different. Read more ›
72 of 74 people found the following review helpful
By aruna
VINE VOICE
Format:Paperback
The trouble begins when George and Sabine Harwood, flushed with the glow of a new marriage, arrive in Port of Spain, Trinidad in the mid-1950's. George feels immediately at home in the lush Caribbean island, whereas Sabine hates it and pines for England. But her love for George is fierce as a hurricane. She does her best to adapt; after all, George's contract is only temporary. She's very wrong.
As George falls more and more under the spell of the island and its quirky inhabitants Sabine creates her own world of secrets. Finding herself in an animated crowd listening to Eric Williams, the charismatic political leader, she falls as much under his spell as the restless Trinidadians, and recognises him as not only the island's saviour but, perhaps, her own. When Williams proves to have feet of clay Trinidad erupts into violence. Sabine is devastated; now is surely the time to flee! But the island won't let them go that easily.
Decades later George discovers Sabine's hidden past, and, driven by remorse, tries to put things right. As their marriage crash-lands the two struggle to regain the love they once had, but it might be too late.
Known to most Europeans only as the "big sister" to the holiday island Tobago, Trinidad has a fascinating life of its own. V.S. Naipaul opened a door on that life decades ago; Monique Roffey opens it yet wider, and paints a wonderful picture of a small country with a big and colourful past, a small corner of Britain's crumbling Empire.
Behind the cliché of white Caribbean sands, turquoise sea and cloudless blue skies lie the dark areas, slavery's shadow, and a people resentful of white domination. As that people rise up in anger racism begets racism, and it's time for the hard questions. Monique Roffey asks them fearlessly... but subtly, for Trinidad, the third party in this marriage gone wrong, will seduce the reader as much as she does George
As George falls more and more under the spell of the island and its quirky inhabitants Sabine creates her own world of secrets. Finding herself in an animated crowd listening to Eric Williams, the charismatic political leader, she falls as much under his spell as the restless Trinidadians, and recognises him as not only the island's saviour but, perhaps, her own. When Williams proves to have feet of clay Trinidad erupts into violence. Sabine is devastated; now is surely the time to flee! But the island won't let them go that easily.
Decades later George discovers Sabine's hidden past, and, driven by remorse, tries to put things right. As their marriage crash-lands the two struggle to regain the love they once had, but it might be too late.
Known to most Europeans only as the "big sister" to the holiday island Tobago, Trinidad has a fascinating life of its own. V.S. Naipaul opened a door on that life decades ago; Monique Roffey opens it yet wider, and paints a wonderful picture of a small country with a big and colourful past, a small corner of Britain's crumbling Empire.
Behind the cliché of white Caribbean sands, turquoise sea and cloudless blue skies lie the dark areas, slavery's shadow, and a people resentful of white domination. As that people rise up in anger racism begets racism, and it's time for the hard questions. Monique Roffey asks them fearlessly... but subtly, for Trinidad, the third party in this marriage gone wrong, will seduce the reader as much as she does George
57 of 59 people found the following review helpful
By Bernard
Format:Paperback
Excellent book I am from Trinidad and happen to live in the general area in which the story is set. The story has such a ring of truth to it and at times I could not put it down. The perspective is an interesting one as growing up I only know the black power side of the story so it was very interesting to get a glimpse into what the expats were experiencing at the time. I also enjoyed trying to figure out the characters as I am convinced that I know a few of them. I know that it is fiction but like I said it has such a ring of truth to it. I passed the book onto my mother and she enjoyed it as she could identify more closely with the main character and the events.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Lynrow Kernow
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
I didn't come across The White Woman on the Green Bicycle until it appeared on the longlist for the Orange Prize for Fiction. I wasn't sure that it would be my sort of book, but I heard so much praise that I really had to order a copy. Since then it appeared on the shortlist, and now that I have read it I have to say that I would be thrilled to see it win. A wonderful book!
It tells the story of one woman, her life and marriage, and wraps around it the story of Trinidad in the second half of the twentieth century. French born Sabine moved to Trinidad in 1956 with her English husband, George. He has a three year contract with a shipping company. It's an adventure, and they are young, happy, and confident that they will suceed where, it seems, many before them have failed.
George fell in love with Trinidad. The surroundings, the climate, the lifestyle.
Monique Roffey's rich and evocative prose makes it easy to see why. But she describes a darker and more violent side to Trinidad too. Sabine hates Trinidad: the heat, the humidity, the rigid social code of the ex pat community, the racial segregation. She accepts that she wil have to stay until the end of her husband's contract, but she sees her future in England. But George sees his future in Trinidad, and has no intention of returning to England. He would happily spend his whole life in Trinidad. And so the relationship between Sabine and George, inevitably, deteriorates. They continue to love each other deeply, but they many never understand each other.And so Sabine is tied: she could leave Trinidad, but she could never leave George.
Meanwhile, the country is changing. Read more ›
It tells the story of one woman, her life and marriage, and wraps around it the story of Trinidad in the second half of the twentieth century. French born Sabine moved to Trinidad in 1956 with her English husband, George. He has a three year contract with a shipping company. It's an adventure, and they are young, happy, and confident that they will suceed where, it seems, many before them have failed.
George fell in love with Trinidad. The surroundings, the climate, the lifestyle.
Monique Roffey's rich and evocative prose makes it easy to see why. But she describes a darker and more violent side to Trinidad too. Sabine hates Trinidad: the heat, the humidity, the rigid social code of the ex pat community, the racial segregation. She accepts that she wil have to stay until the end of her husband's contract, but she sees her future in England. But George sees his future in Trinidad, and has no intention of returning to England. He would happily spend his whole life in Trinidad. And so the relationship between Sabine and George, inevitably, deteriorates. They continue to love each other deeply, but they many never understand each other.And so Sabine is tied: she could leave Trinidad, but she could never leave George.
Meanwhile, the country is changing. Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
various perspectives
Written with a keen eye and ear for sights and feelings/ perspectives. Balanced but true to her personal history. Got the emotional tenor of the times and protagonists right. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Michellethebellebelle
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Clever Read
We learn much from Sabine, living on the Island of Trinidad, all the complexities of living in a country that is beautiful and yet corrupt frustrating and yet- impossible to... Read more
Published 6 days ago by Terri McRobbie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top quality read.
If there ever was a reason to learn to read , this book is it. I absolutely loved everything about it. Not only is it a gripping story it is beautifully written.
Published 1 month ago by Mistaluvva
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceeds expectation.
This book is a heady mixture of rich descriptive prose, political upheaval and a study of dysfunctional relationships.relationship. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mrs.Patricia A Halliwell
2.0 out of 5 stars
Boring - couldn't finish it
I picked this up in a guest house while on holiday in Thailand. Got about 50 pages through then gave up. Read more
Published 4 months ago by SecretsofVoodoo
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some good writing, but let down by the structure
A good, but not great book, which it would be easy to criticise with faint praise. It suffers somewhat from its structure, which undermines what could have been a more emotionally... Read more
Published 4 months ago by BookWorm
5.0 out of 5 stars
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle
I enjoyed this story set in Trinidad. It gave a lot of historical context without sounding like a history book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Yinka Williams
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'd like my own green bicycle
I found this a good read. George & Sabine move to Trinidad in the 1950s, just before the island gains its independence from the crumbling British Empire. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lorna
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good read
I enjoyed this book. Very interesting about Trinidad becoming independent, a time I wasn't aware of, but written on a personal level with love and grief.
Published 7 months ago by Carrie
2.0 out of 5 stars
Author trying too hard
The author doesn't tie up the first half seen through George's eyes with the second half through his wife's. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Helen Gono
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